Mounting connector



Oct. 13, 1970 J. HQLLERMANN ETAL 3,533,585

MOUNTING CONNECTOR Filed June 5, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.

X Fig 3 0 Q o-ab o I\ Joseph J. Holler/mm III 30 46 H9 4 Henry H. Ho/Iermann Bernard/1. Hollermann 2 INVENTORS Oct. 13, 1970 J, HOLLERMANN ETAL $533,585 7 MOUNTING CONNECTOR Filed June 5, 1967 5 Sheets;-Sheet 2 Fig 6 Fig.5

Joseph J. Hal/ermann Henry H Hal/ermann Bernard H. Hal/ermcmn INVENTORS' United States Patent 3,533,585 MOUNTING CONNECTOR Joseph J. Hollermann, 321 N. 5th Ave. E., Henry H.

Hollermann, R.R. 2, Box 113, and Bernard H. Hollermann, R.R. 1, Box 177, all of Melrose, Minn. 56352 Filed June 5, 1967, Ser. No. 643,507 Int. Cl. A47f 11/02 US. Cl. 248-1881 18 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Concealed hardware for anchoring furniture to the floor utilizing the projecting shank of a floor anchor. A base resting on the floor encloses the shank and is permanently held thereby on the floor. One or more connectors project from the base into the bottom of the furniture to which it is releasably secured by screws countersunk on the inside face of the furniture.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the anchoring of funriture to the floor.

Particularly in connection with church furniture such as pews, altars, pulpits, lecterns, reading stands, etc., it is desirable to provide a relatively fixed installation for the furniture without marrirrg the neat appearance thereof. In the past, it has been customary to fixedly anchor such furniture to the floor by means of unsightly L brackets or angle irons. Thus, the elimination of such unsightly anchoring hardware is one of the objectives of the present invention.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide anchoring hardware for furniture capable of being easily installed and accommodating easy removal of the furniture from its anchored location for cleaning, repair or replacement purposes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, concealed means is provided for anchoring furniture to different types of floors including wooden and concrete floors.

Several types of anchoring hardware are available in accordance with the present invention requiring concealed modification of the bottoms of the furniture. A fixed installation concealed from view is thereby achieved.

In one form of the invention, a horizontally elongated wooden block is provided with wooden dowels extending t into bores formed in the bottom of the furniture being anchored. Screw fasteners extend through the wooden dowels from the inside faces of the base portion of the furniture in order to secure the furniture to the block. The block in turn is held on the floor by the upwardly projecting shanks of floor anchor assemblies. The blocks may accordingly be provided with bores through which the shanks extend and recess portions enclosing the engaging heads of the shanks.

In another form of the invention, the screw fasteners aforementioned extend through slots in the web portion of an inverted T-section having a flange portion resting on the floor and held thereon by the heads of the anchor shanks. The T-section is accordingly enclosed within a T-slot formed in the bottom of the furniture base portion.

In yet another form of the invention, a relatively large diameter dowel or peg is received within the bottom of the base portion of the furniture and has a collar secured to its lower end resting on the floor. The upwardly projecting shank portion of the floor anchor assembly is threadedly received in the dowel through the collar and the entire assembly is enclosed within a recess formed in 3,533,585 Patented Oct. 13, 1970 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a piece of furniture anchored in accordance with the present invention to the floor.

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view taken substantially through a plane indicated by section line 22 in FIG. 1 showing the anchoring arrangement.

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially through a plane indicated by section line 3-3 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing one component of the anchoring hardware.

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of another piece of furniture anchored by a different type of mounting connector in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial sectional view taken substantially through a plane indicated by section line 6-6 in FIG. 5. l

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken substantially through a plane indicated by section line 7-7 in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing one of the components associated with the mounting connector illustrated in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7.

FIG. 9 is a partial side elevational view showing yet another mounting connector installation.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged partial sectional view taken substantially through a plane indicated by section line 1010 in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a perspective View of one of the components associated with the mounting connector assembly shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken substantially through a plane indicated by section line 1212 in FIG. 10'.

FIG. 13 is a side elevational view of still another furniture anchoring installation.

FIG. 14 is an enlarged partial sectional view taken substantially through a plane indicated by section line 1414 in FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing the mounting connector component associated with the installation of FIGS. 13 and 14.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings in detail, FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 illustrate an anchored installation for a piece of furniture such as the bench 10 having base panel portions 12 adapted to be secured to the floor 14. In the embodiment illustrated, the base portion of the furniture rests on a horizontally elongated wooden block 16 shown disassembled in FIG. 4. Thus, the block 16 constitutes the only component of the mounting installation which is externally visible. In this regard, it will be observed that the base portion 12 of the furniture includes a visible outside face 18 and a concealed inside face 20 having countersunk recesses 22 through which the slotted heads of screws fasteners 24 are exposed.

The screw fasteners 24 extend into the base portion and intersect spaced bores 26 formed in the base portion from the bottom edge 28 thereof. The screw fasteners 24- therefore are threadedly received through wooden dowels 28 that project upwardly into the bores 26 from 3 the top edge of the block 16 to which they dowels are glued within the dowel receiving bores 32 formed in the block. The block 16 therefore supports the furniture 10 on the floor as well as being removably secured thereto in a concealed manner.

The block 16 is permanently anchored to the floor by means of a concrete floor anchoring assembly 34 of a well-known type. Thus, the anchoring assembly 34 may include an internally threaded tapering sleeve 36 extending through an internally tapered wedging collar 38 Within a socket 40 formed in the floor to which the anchoring assembly is secured. The sleeve is in threaded engagement with a shank 42 which projects upwardly from the floor through a bore 44 formed in the :block 16. Thus, the projecting shank 42 of the anchor assembly is enclosed within the block. The bore 44 terminates at a recess 46 formed in the top edge 30 of the block. The head portion 48 of the shank is received within the recess 46 so as to avoid interference with the bottom edge 28 of the furniture base portion 12 and bears against the block through the washer 50 in order to hold the block firmly anchored to the floor 14.

It will be apparent therefore, that the furniture 10 may be anchored to the floor without exposure of any of the fastening elements in order to provide a neat appearance. Further, by simply removing the fastener screws 24, the furniture may be readily removed for cleaning, repairing, or replacement purposes.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 through 8, it will be observed that the base portion 52 of the furniture being mounted is provided within its bottom edge 54 with a horizontally elongated recess 56 enclosing an elongated wooden block 58 similiar in function to the block 16 hereinbefore described in connection with FIGS. 1 through 4. The block 58 is however concealed within the base portion of the furniture. The block 58 is also provided with wooden dowels 60 glued thereto and projecting upwardly therefrom into bores 62 formed in the base portion of the furniture for this purpose. countersunk fasteners 64- extend from the inside face 66 of the base portion through the dowels 60 in order to removably fasten the block 58 to the furniture in a manner similar to that described in connection with FIGS. 1 through 4.

Formed adjacent to each of the dowels 60 in the block, are bores 68 terminating in recesses 70 on the top edge 72 of the block. The shank portions 74 of anchor assemblies 76 extend through the bores 68 from the floor 78. Each shank is provided with a head 80 engaged with the block within a recess 70 so as to firmly hold the block on the floor. It will be observed that two anchor assemblies 76 are provided in connection with the installation of FIGS. 5 through 8, each anchor assembly being relatively smaller than the larger single anchor assembly associated with the installation of FIGS. 1 through 4.

A third type of installation is illustrated in FIGS. 9

through 12 wherein the base portion 82 of the furniture is provided with a T-shaped recess 84. The bottom edge 86 of the base portion like the bottom edge 54 of the furniture base portion illustrated in FIGS. 5 through 7, rests on the floor 88 concealing the inverted metallic T- section 90 enclosed within the recess 84. The T-section 90 is adapted to be firmly held on the floor by four anchoring assemblies 92, each being similar to the anchoring assemblies 76 associated with the installation of FIGS. 5 through 8.

The inverted T-section 90 is provided with a flange portion 94 having two pairs of holes 96 adjacent opposite longitudinal ends through which the shank portions of the anchor assemblies 92 extend. Thus, the T-section 90 is held on the floor bymeans of the heads associated with the shank portions engaging the flange portion 94. An upwardly projecting connector web 98 is also associated with the T-section having elongated slots 100 formed adjacent to the holes 96. Thus, screw fasteners 102 ex- 4 tend through the slots 100 from the inside face 104 of the furniture base portion 82.

FIGS. 13, 14 and 15 illustrate a fourth type of installation associated with the base portion 106 of a church pew for example wherein the bottom edges 108 thereof rest on the floor 110. A bottom recess 112 is formed in the base portion enclosing a :base collar 114. The collar 114 embraces the lower portion of a large diameter wooden peg or dowel 116 abutting a shoulder 118. Thus, a large diameter bore 120 projects upwardly from the bottom recess 112 for receiving the dowel or peg. The base collar 114 which may be made of metal is held clamped between the shoulder 118 on the peg 116 and the floor by means of the shank portion 122 associated with the anchor assembly 124. The anchor assembly 124 is similar in structure and function to the floor anchor assemblies hereinbefore referred to except for the upwardly projecting shank portion thereof which is threaded so as to be threadedly received within the peg 116. Thus, the base portion 106 of the pew may be installed over the peg 116 so as to be firmly mounted on the floor. If desired, the furniture could be fastened to the peg 116 by removable fasteners such as 24 or 64 as hereinbefore described in connection with the other forms of the invention.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In combination with a piece of furniture having a base portion adapted to be secured to a floor and a floor anchor assembly having a shank portion projecting above the floor, a mounting assembly comprising a base resting on the floor in enclosing relation to the shank portion of the anchor assembly, a vertically elongated connector secured to the base and projecting upwardly therefrom into and completely concealed by the base portion of the furniture, fastener means extending from an inside face of said base portion through the connector and means on the shank portion of the anchor assembly for holding the base on the floor.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said base comprises a horizontally elongated wooden block having a bore through which the shank portion extends and a recess aligned with the bore receiving the holding means on the shank portion.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said holding means on the shank portion comprises a head engaging the base. i

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said base portion of the furniture is provided with a bottom recess enclosing the base therein.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein said connector includes a wooden dowel secured to the base.

6. The combination of claim 1 wherein said connector includes a wooden dowel secured to the base.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein said base is formed by a flange portion of an inverted T-section having a web portion constituting said connector, the web portion being provided with a slot through which the fastener extends.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said holding means on the shank portion comprises a head engaging the flange portion enclosed :by the bottom recess in the base portion of the furniture.

9. The combination of claim 1 wherein said base is formed by a flange portion of an inverted T-section having a web portion constituting said connector, the web portion being provided with a slot through which the fastener extends.

10. The combination of claim 1 wherein said holding means on the shank portion comprises a head engaging the base.

11. The combination of claim 1 wherein said connector includes a wooden dowel secured to the base.

12. The combination of claim 11 wherein said holding means on the shank portion includes a threaded section threadedly received in the dowel.

13. The combination of claim 12 wherein said base comprises a collar embracing a lower end of the dowel resting on the floor.

14. The combination of claim 13 wherein said base portion of the furniture is provided with a bottom recess enclosing the base therein.

15. In combination with a piece of furniture having a base portion adapted to be secured to a floor and a floor anchor assembly having a shank portion projecting above the floor, a mounting assembly comprising a base resting on the floor in enclosing relation to the shank portion of the anchor assembly, a vertically elongated connector secured to the base and projecting upwardly therefrom and completely concealed by the base portion of the furniture, and means on the shank portion of the anchor assembly for holding the base on the floor, said holding means on the shank portion including a threaded section threadedly received in the connector, said connector comprising a wooden peg and said base comprising a collar embracing a lower end of the peg resting on the floor.

16. In an elongated seat supported upon a floor having a depending recessed panel forming a base portion, a. base element anchored upon the floor in alignment with said recessed panel and received therein, and fastening means passing through said panel and the base element, and means passing vertically through the base element and into the floor for anchoring the base element to the floor.

17. The combination of claim 16 wherein said panel is formed with a recess, said base element including a concealed portion extending into the recess, said fastening means extending into the recess.

18. The combination of claim 17 wherein said concealed portion of the base element is a connector dowel, said recess having a bore portion receiving the dowel therein.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 724,897 4/1903 Lee.

901,761 10/1908 Weber 248361 1,110,621 9/1914 Gabel. 1,380,041 5/1921 Cook 248-361 1,460,425 7/1923 McKee 248361 2,097,332 10/1937 Krumhar et al. 248-361 2,128,522 8/1938 Burns et a1 297-463 2,886,098 5/1959 Hoven et al 248-1888 2,901,787 9/1959 Whistler et al. 2,965,161 12/1960 Knoll 248188.8 1,243,116 10/1917 Spears 248188.1 3,300,171 1/1967 Watts 248361 3,378,223 4/1968 Way et al. 248361 FRANCIS K. ZUGEL, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 248--361; 297--350 

